Machine for making elongated tufts



July 1947. J. K. M CUTCHEN 7 MACHINE FOR MAKING ELONGA'IED TUFTS Filed Nov; 24, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet l W A w ".7. 472 44 7.9 79 I 83 67 3 86 se 8 V 851 Q a f a 3 1 4, 10'? was 9 6 2? o v 94 Y 90{ $91 62 9? 2 V 92, 93 65 L4 I July 8, 1947;

J. K. MCCUTCHEN MACHINE FOR MAKING ELONGATED TUFTS Filed Nov. 24, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y p k 5 Q "Ji 4 Shee'ts-Sheet 3 J. K. M CUTCHEN MACHINE FOR MAKING ELONGATED TUFTS v Filed Nov. 24, 1944 July 8, 1947.

Patented July 8, 1947 UNITED STATE rem OFFICE 'I'hisinvention relates to a sewing machine and more especially to a sewing machine equipped with specially designed apparatus whereby elongated tufts can be formed on the lower side of a base fabric as the fabric is passed through the machine.

It is an object of this invention to provide a sewing machine having a plurality of needles for piercing a base fabric, and carrying along with each needle a strand, together with means for passing between the strand and the needle and above the eye of the needle after the needles have pierced the fabric for forming a loop on the lower side of the fabric and extending this loop to an elongated position together with other means for engaging the loop while held by the first looper and removing it from the first looper and further elongating the loop and transferring it onto a looper bill where it is held and severed while the first and second loopers are handling the formation and transfer of loops downwardly to be deposited onto the looper bills.

It is another object of this invention to provide a sewing machine having a plurality of vertically reciprocating needles carrying the strands of yarn through a base fabric together with a looper associated with each needle for passing between the needle and the yarn carried thereby and above the eye of the needle for engaging the yarn and forming a loop as the needle is withdrawn upwardly through the fabric and also elongating said loop, together with a second looper for engagin the loop held on the first looper when it is in extended position and removing this loop from the first looper and further elongating the loop and transferring it onto an oscillating looper bill which has associated therewith a cutter or knife, which when the elongated loop has been transferred onto the looper bill as the looper bill moves rearwardly, the knife will move upwardly to sever some, but not all, of the loops carried by the looper bill.

Some. of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, and taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a sewing machine head equipped with my special apparatus and showing parts thereof in section; a

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view showin the linkage connection between certain shafts and taken along a line 2--2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along a line 4-4 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along a line 5-5 in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a view taken along the same line as Figure 4, but showing the parts in a different position.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral l 9 indicates a conventional bed plate of a sewing machine having an uprising portion H and a horizontally disposed portion I2 provided with a conventional head I3 in which the needle bar I5 is mounted for vertical reciprocatory movement and also a presser bar l6 having a presser member liia secured on its lower end and a presser foot l! pivotally connected as at l8 to the lower. end of the presser member It, all of a conventional nature.

The lower end of the needle bar l5 has a transverse portion 29 in which a plurality of needles 2! are mounted, said needles having a conventional eye 22 near the lower end thereof. The head Ed has a plate 14 secured thereon onwhich tension devices Hid are mounted and through which the strands of yarn pass on their way to the needles. A plate IE! is also secured on the front of head it which has holes therethrough for also guiding the strands of yarn.

The horizontal portion 12 and theuppermost portion of portion l l of the sewin machine goose-neck has rotat'ably mounted therein a drive shaft 23 which has a hand wheel 24 fixedly secured thereon and there is also fixed thereon a pulley 25 on which a suitable Joel, not shown, is adapted to be mounted, said belt being suitably mounted on a motor shaft pulley, not shown, for driving the sewing machine. i

The drive shaft 23 has an eccentric portion 21 thereon on which a conventional forked upper end 28 on a connecting rod 29 is mounted, said connecting rod 29 having pivotally secured thereto as at 30 a link 3! whose other end is pivotally secured to the free end of a link 33, the other end of which is pivotally mounted on a stud 34 extending from the interior of the upright portion I I. This gives the connecting rod 29 not'only an up and down motion but also a lateral swinging motion for proper operation of rear feed dog shaft 35 which is mounted for oscillation at its ends in suitable pivot screws such as 31. The rear feed dog shaft has adjustably secured thereon a lever 3B the free end of which is pivotally connected to the lower end of connecting rod 29, all of this being of conventional nature.

The main drive shaft 23 has also thereon, an eccentric portion 40 which is surrounded by the upper end portion ll of a connecting rod 42, the lower end of which is pivotally connected to a lever 43 adjustably secured on the front feed dog shaft 44 mounted at its ends for oscillation on suitable pivot screws 45. This front feed dog shaft 44 has suitable levers 46 adjustably secured thereon, whose free ends have pins 4! which have sliding movement in open-ended slots 48 in feed dog frame 39, the rear end of the feed dog frame 49 being pivotally connected a at 50, to the upper ends of arms 5! extending. from the rear feed dog shaft 35.

The feed dog frame 48 has upwardly ing portions 52 of a conventional nature which work in suitable slots in a throat plate 53 secured on the upper side of the base plate 0. The feed dog portions 52 project through said slots to feed a fabric 55 rearwardly. The throat plate also has openings through which the needles 2! project downwardly, each needle carrying a strand of yarn 56 for the formation of loops on the lower side of the fabric. 7

The machine is also equipped with downwardly projecting lugs 60 and (SI to which are secured plates 52 and 53 for supporting some of the additional'shafts which are presently to be described.

Immediately below the front feed dog shaft 44 there. is disposed a looper shaft 55 which is mounted at its ends in suitable pivot screws 68 andli'l disposed in the plates 63 and 62; respectively This first looper shaft 65 has adjustably secured thereon an arm member 58, the free end of which is pivotally connected with the lower end of a connecting rod 69 whose upper end portion I surrounds a suitable eccentric on the main drive shaft 23 for imparting oscillatory and vertical reciprocatory motion to the connecting rod 69 and oscillatory motion to the looper shaft 65.- V

Thelooper shaft 65 has adjustably mounted thereon a pluralityof split blocks I2 which are secured in position by means of suitable screws l3. Each of these blocks has adjustably mounted thereon a looper finger M by means of screws I penetrating a slot 16 in the looper member M and being threadably embeddedsin the blocks The free end of looper member 14 has a hook Tl thereon which is adapted to pass between the needle and the yarn carried thereby and above the eye of the needle when it i in lowermost position for engaging the yarn and forming a loop. 7 V

Disposed rearwardly and at some distance below the shaft 65 is a second looper shaft 86 which has an arm 8I adjustably secured thereon which is pivotally connected to the lower end of a connecting rod 83 whose upper end has circular portion 84 surrounding an eccentric 64 on the shaft 23 which gives a vertical recip rocatory motion and a slight swinging motion to the connecting rod 83 which in turn gives oscillatory motion to the secondlooper shaft 80. Second looper shaft fill is pivotally mounted at its ends for oscillation in suitable pivot screws 85. The second looper shaft 86 has adjustably seprolectcured thereon a plurality of split blocks 88 which are confined in clamping relation on the shaft 3% by means of screws til. Each block 85 has adjustably secured thereon a rod l9 by means of a set screw 88a and the upper and rearmost end of rod is has secured thereon by braz ing or otherwise a looper member 88 which has a pointed bill portion 88 on its free end which is adapted to pass upwardly above the bill '51 and to remove the loop from the bill i? and to extend it further downwardly as shown in Figure4.

Also mounted in vbrackets 52 and 53 are pivot screws 90 and iii which oscillatably support the ends of a looper bill shaft 52, This looper bill shaft has adjustably secured thereon an arm 93 'to the fre end of which is pivotally connected the lower end of connecting rod 9 which extends upwardly and has a circular portion 35 surrounding a suitable eccentric 95o; disposed on the shaft A 23 for imparting swinging and reciprocatory motion to the connecting rod E4 and oscillatory motion to the shaft 92.

The shaft 92 has adjustably mounted thereon a plurality of split blocks 95 which are confined on the shaft 92 by means of a screw 91. Each of these blocks t has suitably mounted therein a of a loop when this loop is moved downwardly: by further counter-clockwise motion of the shaft 88 in Figurese and 6. In other words the bills 89 on rods 3'! move down far enough to where forward motion of the looper bill Bill will cause its down-turned pointed portion N32 to enter above the bills 89 on shaft 8'! which will cause the loop to be transferred from hook portion 89 onto the looper bill It I Fixed to the lower side of the bed plate of the machine and projecting downwardly therefrom is a bracket I and a pivot screw I96 is fixed in this bracket and also a pivot screw Ill! isthreadably secured in bracket 62 and on these pivot screws is oscillatably mounted a square shaft I88 which has adjustably secured therein short rods I519 by means of a set screw i If]. These rods have 7 each a slot I II therein in which the lower end of a cutter knife H2 slidably fits and said cutter knife being adapted to be confined in an adjusted position by means of a sleeve II4 slidably fitting on the rods I I39 and being driven against the edge of thecutter blade IIZ by means of a screw II3 threadably secured in the interiorly threaded outer end of each of the rods I89. The upper ends .of the cutter blades are adapted to slidably engage the looper shank I00 and looper bill IOI due to the-flexing of the blade by slightly turn ing the rods I 99 before securing them in adjusted position so as to cause the upper cutting edge of the blade IIZ to slidably engage the shank llfi and looper bill IQ! in its upward and downward movement relative to the looper bill shank I98 ward upward movement of the looper bills.

The looper bill shaft 92 has an arm I I 5 adjustably mounted thereon by means of one end being split and having a clamping screw IIS slidably has pivotally secured thereto a link I II, the other end of link I I! being pivotally secured to the free end of an arm I I8, the other end of the arm I I8 being adapted to fit around cutter shaft I08, and this split end of arm i l8 has a screw IIB therein for causing the end of arm I18 to clampingly engage shaft I88.

It is to be noted that shafts 65, 8t! and 92 are driven directly from the main drive shaft 23 and not from the feed shafts 35 'or i l or from aseparate source of power. By having the eccentrics on the main shaft and the connecting rods 83, 69 and 94 driven thereby and connected to arms on the respective shafts 85, 8i! and 92 a positive and trouble-free drive is provided.-

Method of operation As the needles move from uppermost to lowermost position, and just after the eyes of the needles have passed through the throat plate, the hooks I! are up against the throat plate and the hooks 88 have moved downwardly just below the path to be traveled by the looper bill WI, and upon further downward movement of the needles, the loopers on the first looper shaft 65 start moving downwardly between the needle and the strand carried thereby above the eye of the needle to form the loops and the looper bills IIlI being passed through the loops held by the loopers on the second looper shaft, then the loopers on the second looper shaft start moving reversely or upwardly and backwardly while the loopers on the first looper shaft move downwardly and by the time the loopers on the second looper shaft move above the points on the loopers on the first looper shaft the looper bills IIlI start moving backwardly and the knives I I2 start sliding upwardly on the looper bill shank to sever the loops and as the looper bill I90 moves backwardly, the hooks on the ends of the loopers on the second looper shaft move past the lowered tips of the loopers on the first looper shaft to remove the loops carried thereby while the preceding loop has been cut by the knives on the lowermost looper bills. In other words, it is seen that as a loop is being formed by the loopers on the first looper shaft the loopers on the second looper shaft are moving upwardly to receive the loops when transfer operation is ready, and at the same time, the loops which have already been transferred to the looper bills IEJI are being cut while the loops are transferred from the first looper bills to the second loopers to be carried downwardly to be engaged by the looper bills IBI while another set of loops is beginning to be formed by the loopers on the first looper shaft.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle for carrying a strand through a base fabric, an oscillating looper adapted to pass between the needle and the strand carried thereby for forming a loop and moving further downwardly to increase the length of the loop, a second oscillating looper member disposed below the first looper and adapted to pass into the loop and engage the same and hold the same while the first looper member move upwardly and forwardly of the path traveled by the needle to a position ready to pass between the needle and a strand carried thereby as the needle again moves downwardly, the second looper member being adapted tomove the loop further downwardly and to elongate the loop to a further degree than the elongation imparted by the first looper member, an oscillating looper member having a looper bill adapted to pass into the loop while it is held by the second looper member, and cutting means associated with the oscillating looper bill for cutting some but not all of the loop held on the looper bill during each oscillation of the looper bill member.

2. In a sewing machine having a plurality of vertically reciprocating needles disposed in side by side' spaced relation to each other and each having an eye for carrying a strand through a base fabric, an oscillatable shaft disposed below and in front of the projected line of travel of the needle and having a plurality of looper arms thereon adapted to passbetween the needles and the strands carried thereby for engaging the strands and forming loops as the needles move upwardly, and as the needle moves upwardly, the looper members being adapted to move further downwardly to greatly elongate the loops being formed upon upward travel of the needle, a second looper shaft disposed below the first looper shaft and having a plurality of looper members thereon, the second shaft being oscillatable whereby the econd looper members will pass into and engage the loops and transfer the same from the first looper members and move further downwardly to elongate the loops to a greater degree than they were elongated by the first looper members, a third oscillatable shaft having a plurality of looper bill members thereon having looper bills on their upper ends and adapted to swing forwardly into the loops while they are held by the second looper members in their lowermost position and to engage and hold the loops while the second looper members move out of the loops to a position ready to receive the loops being moved downwardly by the first looper members, and cutting means associated with the looper bill members for cutting some but not all of the loops held on the looper bills of the looper bill members.

3. In a sewing machine having a plurality of vertically reciprocating needles adapted to pierce a base fabric and carry therewith a strand of yarn, a looper shaft having a plurality of arms thereon and having hooks on their outer ends, the hooks being adapted to pass between the needles and the strands carried thereby and to move the strands downwardly to for-m elongated loops while the needles move upwardly, a second looper shaft mounted below the first looper shaft having a plurality of arms thereon, the outer end of which are provided with hooks for entering the loops and transferring them from the first hooks on the first looper shaft and moving the loops further downwardly to further elongate the same, a third oscillatable shaft disposed below and rearwardly of the second oscillatable shaft and having a plurality of looper bills mounted thereon, the looper bills being adapted to pass into the loop while they are held by the hooks on the second looper members and to hold the loops while the second loopers move out of the same, and a fourth oscillatable shaft having a plurality of cutter members thereon adapted to rub against the looper bills and cut some but not all of the loops held on the looper bills during oscillation of the looper bills rearwardly with relation to the first and second looper shafts.

4. In a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle for carrying a strand through a fabric, means for passing between the strand and the needle for forming a loop and for moving the loop downwardly to elongated position while the needle moves upwardly, a second means for passing into the loop While it is held in lowered position by the first means and moving the loop further downwardly to further elongate the same, and third means for entering the loop while it is held by the second means for transferring the loop from second means to the third means.

JOSEPH K. MCCUTCHEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,902,704 Kadlec Mar. 21, 1933 2,352,153 Patey June 20, 1944 438,427 Rehfuss et a1 Oct. 14, 1890 1,922,131 Heidel Aug. 15, 1933 2,280,212 Boyles Apr. 21, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 15 Number Country I Date 12,811 Great Britain 1898, 

